How did the World Englishes develop? How do the various varieties of English differ?
Is there any one form of English that is 'better' than the others? The geographical spread of English is unique among the languages of the world, throughout history. Countries using English as either a first or a second language are located on all five continents, and the total population of these countries amounts to about 49% of the world's population.
Whereas the English-speaking world was formerly perceived as a hierarchy of parent (Britain) and children ('the colonies'), it is now seen rather as a family of varieties. The English of England, the original source of all the World Englishes, is now seen as one of the 'family' of world English varieties, with its own peculiarities and its own distinctive vocabulary.
This awareness that English consists of a family of different varieties is not a new phenomenon, but goes back to the early 19th century. Published in 1808, John Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language recognized that there was a difference between the Scottish variety of English and the English of England. John Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms appeared in 1848, acknowledging that a distinct variety of English had arisen across the Atlantic. And the huge, multivolume Oxford English Dictionary (1884-1928) documented not just British English words, but also words from the varieties of English found in Australasia, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and North America.
During the 1980s and 1990s the information available on the major regional varieties of English increased dramatically. Five large, specialized dictionaries were published, providing detailed records of regional Englishes: The Australian National Dictionary (1988); A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles (1996); A Dictionary of Caribbean Usage (1996); The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1997); and The Dictionary of New Zealand English (1998). (See our range of regional English dictionaries)